Device for driving boards, planks, or the like into the ground



Feb. 13, 1940- J. E. R SIMONS ET AL OR THE LIKE INTO THE GROUND DEVICE FOR DRIVING BOARDS, PLANKS,

Filed Aug. 23, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 13, 1940. 5 E, R smo s :ET AL 2,190,387

DEVICE FOR DRIVING BOARDS, PLANKS, OR THE LIKE INTO THE GROUND Filed Aug. 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 13, 1940 DEVICE FOR DRIVING BOARDS, PLANKS, 'OR

' THE LIKE INTO THE'GROIJ ND John Earl Ransomlsirnon s, Harlow, and Ethel Lillian Brice; and AlbertQBrice Stockport, Eng} land, assignors,

Earl Ransom simons flarlow, Essex,

by mesnej assignments, to John England Applicationnugust.23, 1938,;Serial; No. 226,344

In. Great Britain August 26,. 193.7

i 4 Claims. (or. 6173) The invention relates to an iinproved device for driving boards, planks or the like, 8.3. plank.-

like -metal piles into the ground.v

In application Serial Number 164,975, there is described a manually operable tool for driving posts and stakes into the ground which consists ofan open bottomed guide tube: provided with side handles and suitably. weighted so that the operator, by sliding it up and down the post to.

,bedriven, can use it as a hammer, the tube servingalso to guide the post while it is being driven.

When drivingv planks into the ground, particularly when the planks are used to board a trench, it is frequently necessary .to drive each plant ,in turn a short distance into the ground and this goes on until the trench has been sunk to. its required depth. In cases such as this considerable time and effort. will be saved if the tool can be shifted from post to post without removing it. 1 I 1 According to the present invention the tool comprises an open sided driving and guiding tube having two or more handles, by which it. can be raised and lowered'tohammer the board or other post into the ground.v Preferably the tool is fitted with guide covers, which are readily detachable therefrom. i I 1 In one form the device comprises a member, of generally tubuiar form. with one openend, the other end being closedand weighted by a metal plug secured in position by welding or riveting. At each side thetubular member is slotted,',

and inside it segmental, shaped wood blocks are bolted leaving a parallel sided gapinline with the side slots, which slots and-gap; serve to pro-' vide for the entry, accommodation and removal of the plank. Bolted to the top of the member are one or more brackets serving to carry rods or tubes extending outside and down substantially its whole length,.beingsecured nearthe bottom or. open end thereof. These rods or tubes constitute handles for the operation of the tool. These handles may be adapted to be fitted with extension. pieces, if extra long planks are to be driven into the ground.

The open slots at the sides are covered by tional plan view on the I Figure 4 is an elevation showing one of the is adapted to. pass over a spring biased wing nut fittedon a stud screwed into the, head: of the tubularmember, when the wing nut is in one position. v

I The invention is; illustrated in thefaccompanye ing drawings, in: which Figure l is a sectional elevation of a board or plank: driving tool, corn structed in accordance with the invention and showing both guide covers which are detachable in position.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the samebut with one. guide cover removed and Figure 3 is asec:

line 33 of Figure 1.,

guide. covers removed from t -e guiding member. .Referring to the drawings, the driving tool comprises a guide tube ormember, which may be of any suitable section but which in its preferred form, as shown, consists of a tube indicated generally at I open at its bottom end and closed at its upper end, convenientlyb-y a metal; plug 2, (see Figure l) by which the driving tube is weighted. Integral withthe. guide tube are handles 3., of which four may conveniently be provided, these handles extending throughout sub:

stantially the entire length of the unit and if necessaryv being adapted to be fitted with exten,, sion pieces as described in application .Serial Number 164,975. previously referred to; should 7 the planks to be driven into the ground be extra detachable sheet metal guide covers. Each guide 7 cover has riveted near the bottom a lug, which engages over a metal strap fixed near the bottom of the sheath. In this way the guide coverstare secured at the bottom by the engagement of the guide cover itself on the inside of the strap and the lug on the outside. The top end of the guide cover is bent over and the bent over portion provided with an elongated aperture. This aperture long. The handles 3 depend rigidly iromflcrossed bars 3 rigidwith the tube l. At their lower ends, the handles 3 are rigid with the terminalportions of U-shaped' skeleton brackets 31? rigid on the sections of tube I.

i It will also be understood handles. 1

tube is provided down each side with openings,

the tube I for this purpose being cut away as in dicated at A. This permits the driving unit to be applied or removed from the. plankto be driven from one side, instead of having to lift it over the top, which may not always be convenient, especially if a series of planks eXtending-sideby side have to be driven, in which case it is obviously far easier having driven one plank, simply to remove a guide cover or if necessary both covers, and to slide the devicesideways on to the next plank. Wooden blocks are bolted at l within and to the tube I.

that, alternatively the member may be provided with two or three Detachably secured over the openings A of 1 or edges C, the distance between which is such that they overlap the open sides of the guide tube.

The guide covers are secured to the driving unit at both their lower and upper ends and for this purpose lug pieces D are riveted to the covers B thereof, the lugs D being adapted to engage straps E fast on each half or side of the guide tube.

The straps E, as is clearly shown in Figure 3, are formed with projecting ends F having outturned flanges G so as to prevent the covers B from slipping ofi sideways.

At their upper ends, the guide covers B are held by quick release catches, whichmay'take the form of spring controlled studshaving interlocking engagement with the covers. The covers B at the top are similarly provided'with flanges H consisting of plates having depending walls h conforming to and secured against the inner surfaces o-f the upper portions of covers B by welding and over the top plates H are secured bossed plates J, the bosses having dwell portions K. In the plates H and J are elongated aligning slots L.

Attached to the block 2 are studs M, on which are mounted spring controlled wing nuts P, the

wing pieces Q of which are of asize to pass lengthwise through the slots L but when rotated to the release position shown on the right of Figure 2 engage the dwell portions K in the locking plate.

Each guide cover is provided with a handle 0 sothat it can be easily removed.

. I In use, for example when inserting a row of shore boards, one of the guide covers having been removed, the tool is slid sideways over a plank and the cover replaced and secured. The tool is then raised and then pulled down by the handles on to the top of the plank, the process being repeated until the plank has been driven in sufficiently far. Care should be taken that the tool does not rebound after each blow, since if so most of the force of the blow is lost. Then the guide cover or covers according to the extent the board has been driven is or areremoved and the tool slid sideways over the next plank Without the necessity for raising it vertically completely to clear the first plank. It is a surprising fact that little, if any, injury is done to either end of the planks even when they have to be driven into very hard ground and they may in consequence be repeatedly used as shore boards in trenching or excavating operations.

It will be appreciated that the detachable guide covers may be made of thin metal so that the device may be used for inserting a row of closely spaced planks.

It will'be found that as compared with existing vice from one plank to another plank when methods of driving planks into the ground, where considerable damage is done-to the ends of the invention is primarily intended for driving planks its use is'notnecessarily restricted thereto and it may be employed for driving posts.

What we claim is:

planks, boards and the like into the ground comprising a guiding member closed at the top, and having two or more handles extending length- .Wise of the guiding member so that it can be caused to slide up and down and operate as. a hammer on the plank to bedriven, said guiding member having diametrically aligned sideopen-,

driven, and to enable lateral shifting of the dethe planks are arranged in rows.

'2. A manually operable device for planks, boards and the like, comprising a tubular guiding member closed a'tthe top and having at least two handles extending lengthwise thereof so that it can be caused toslide up and down and operate as a hammer on the plank. to be driven, in which the guiding member is formed with side openings to permit the sideways entry of or removal from the plank being driven, guide covers for the side openings and means for detachably securing said covers to the guiding member. p 3. A manually operable device for driving planks, boards and the like, comprising a guiding member closed at the top and having at least two handles extending lengthwise of the guiding member so that it can be caused toslide up and down and operate as a hammer on the plank" to be driven, said guiding member having side openings to permit'the sideways entry of or removal from the plank being driven, guide covers for the. side openings, each guide cover and the guiding member having co-operating parts for securing the guide covers to the guiding member in posidriving I 1 0 1. A manually operable device for driving.

' ings to permit the sideways entry of or removal '01 the device from the plank or planks to be tion closing said side openings, and spring means urging engagement of the associated parts.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3. in which the said parts on the guiding member are wing elements engaged by said spring means, the tops oi the guide covers having elongated holes for passage of said wing elements therethrough.

JOHN EARL RANSOM SIMONS; ETHEL'LILLIAN BRICE. ALBERT BRICE. 

